My Life With TCC

After my father died in 2009 my body crashed. His death was not unexpected but I think I stuffed all my grief and sadness into my body. Up until that time I had been managing my rheumatoid arthritis, fibromyalgia and osteoporosis quite well with yoga, Pilates, weight lifting and walking.

But everything changed almost overnight. I could not make my own bed; I had to ask my son to come over and wash my underwear and do simple things. I was in pain and needed to change things, especially since a physical therapist told me my body was too flexible; I needed to quit yoga. I needed something to calm me down but I also needed to move.

I decided to try T’ai Chi Chih at the Minnetonka Senior Center. I had heard about it, tried some other forms that didn’t seem to fit me. My first teacher was Joe Apt. At first I could not believe that Joe was the teacher, as he was quite elderly and needed to sit down often. But I came to respect him as a teacher. His wife Barbara helped out and another person did the counting.

It was difficult for me, and I was a difficult student for Joe. I was used to moving fast, with big movements. As a type A person, it was hard to slow down, be still and not move my body as much. Being soft and accepting were not terms I was used to.

At that time, I could not raise my arms for Cosmic Conscious Pose, and my body hurt. I also had to wear shoes because my feet hurt. But I stuck with it and after Joe died, I had other teachers, Bridget and Monica Campbell, who was Joe’s student. But it was still difficult to let go and just let my body move. I still moved with a stiff body, trying so hard to get every movement exactly right.

Finally I made it to the intermediate class even though I was really not ready. But Monica became my teacher and we had a few private lessons to help with yinning and yanging. When she started teaching at my workout facility, I was thrilled. This meant I could go twice weekly and really improve. I hadn’t been practicing at home, even though I had a DVD. A few years prior, I had attended a workshop with Antonia and received wonderful feedback from a variety of teachers.

Now after three years with Monica as my teacher, I like it. About six months ago I realized I was soft, relaxed, less anxious. It was exciting to finally get it. The benefits have been numerous: I am more at peace; my balance has improved; I’m able (at times) to shut out the rest of the world and my busy life. Along with other things, TCC has helped me to get to this good place, with my body and my life. By the way, I can now do Cosmic Consciousness Pose easily, as well as go barefoot. And there is no pain.